The Biggest Con
by CatchingCraziness
Summary: The biggest con she'd ever pulled was convincing everyone that she was a boy. Fem!Neal.
1. Introduction

**Disclaimer: I own nothing! This counts for every chapter!**

**A/N: This idea wouldn't leave me alone. I have completely ignored the canon version of Neal's history, but considering this is an AU you'll just have to forgive me. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 1: Introduction**

Linda Shaw was ten years old when she ran away from home. Her mother spent most of her time in a drunken state in which she didn't even remember she had a daughter. The times between the alcohol and drugs were the worst though, for when memories of her little girl came back to the front of her mind, the woman who should have loved her, instead lashed out in fits of anger.

She never knew her father, the only things she knew about him were what her mother had told her before passing out. Things about a man who didn't want to be burdened by a child or married to a worthless lump of a woman. The police had informed them of his death when Linda was five; some sort of a mugging gone wrong.

Living on the streets, she learnt early that little girls drew too much unwanted attention. She cut her hair with a rusty shard of metal and that was enough; she was at that young age when a haircut was the only thing that proved her gender. Most guessed she was just an effeminate looking boy and she avoided any who would have looked harder.

She'd only been living on the streets for a few months when she met the person who was going to change her whole life. Law meant nothing to a child who just wanted something to eat, and so she'd become quite skilled at picking pockets. It was a fortunate mistake that led her to try picking the pocket of a young man, thinking that he would be an easy mark.

The boy had been quicker than she'd expected and before she'd had the chance to do anything, he had dragged her into an alcove and taken his money back from her while keeping hold of one of her wrists. They'd stood in silence for a while, hers a mixture of terror and defiance and his thoughtful.

"What's your name?" He finally asked, his voice didn't give away any of his emotions. She tugged on the grip he had on her wrist but he didn't let go, just staring at her from behind a pair of round rimmed glasses.

"Neal," she answered with a glare. She'd created a new identity for herself out of need but she knew that she would need documents to back it up when she got older.

"Well, Neal, you're in luck," the man smiled at her, loosening his hold a little but not enough for her to run away. "Because I need someone to help me with a con and you look like you need the money."

"What sort of con?" She asked suspiciously; she'd learnt to be wary around men, even in her boy disguise. It wouldn't be the first time that she'd conned someone but she usually did them on her own since she could never be sure that the other person wouldn't just keep all the money and drop her in it.

He quickly explained what he wanted her for and the money that she'd get from helping, even promising to buy her something to eat if she agreed. He let go of her wrist and told her that she could think about it, arranging to meet her again when she'd decided.

Four weeks later they'd successfully pulled of the con and were splitting the money, the boy giving her the amount that he had promised. There'd been a couple of complications but in the end it had gone their way.

"You can call me Mozzie," the man told her after handing over the money. It was the first time that he'd told her a name to call him by and she smiled at him in thanks. "And if you want to, I can teach you how to be a brilliant conman."

"What's the catch?" She questioned, more at ease around him then when they'd first met, but not yet completely ready to trust him.

His eyes assessed her briefly before he replied. "I need someone to help me pay the rent for my room."

"You old enough for your own place?" She raised one of her eyebrows. People on the streets grew up quicker than other children, just because he looked like he was in his late teens didn't mean that he was.

"I'm twenty," the boy, Mozzie, admitted. "But the motel owners around here don't care about age anyway. Surely you know that by now. I've been living on my own since I was thirteen."

A grimace crossed her face as she nodded. It wasn't too hard to decide on what to do, even with all her suspicions and fears; she was still young and, though not very trusting, she craved the idea of human interaction with someone who didn't want to hurt her.

Mozzie was strange and full about conspiracy ideas, but he hadn't tried to harm her in the weeks she'd known him. In the end, the offer of a place to stay and the thought that she might be able to eat more regularly finally made her accept the deal.

She had to go out often to pick pockets in order to pay her bit of the rent and they got better at pulling cons, each one getting bigger with a bigger pay check at the end as their confidence and trust in each other grew.

It only took Mozzie a week of living with her to discover that she was female, but he told her that he'd had a few suspicions of it. Linda didn't doubt that because Mozzie had suspicions about everyone. They decided that it would be best if she continued to pretend to be male and she had no problems with it; she'd grown to depend on her mask of being Neal.

After the awkward time of going through puberty with only Mozzie to teach her what to do, she learnt to bind her chest with bandages in order to continue her disguise. Mozzie grew into the role of a protective older brother and she depended on him as the only person who she could be herself with. He suggested once or twice that she give up the idea of being Neal, but by that time the mask had become her safety net and she didn't know how to let him go.

When she was sixteen, Mozzie gave her documents that declared her to be Neal Caffrey, an eighteen year old boy from New York. He'd changed her birthday to the21st March but had otherwise left her early history blank. She was thrilled that she now had proof that she was Neal and no one could doubt it.

He also handed her a second pile of papers with another identity that declared her to be Lizzy 'Neal' Haversham, age 16, sister to Dante 'Mozzie' Haversham. She noticed that her birthday was the day that they'd first met and was overwhelmed by emotion. Her new name was perfect to her, a nice mix of her old life and new; she thought of it as a combination of Linda and Mozzie.

Occasionally, she would get the chance to wear a nice dress and heels and use the documents that she felt were hers. She'd given up her identity of Linda Shaw when she'd left her house all those years ago, choosing instead to adopt her persona of Neal Caffrey, but out of all her names she felt that Lizzy Haversham was the only one that was truly her.

Mozzie had asked her once when she was fourteen if she liked being Neal because she wanted to be a boy. He'd reassured her that he would support her no matter what, sprouting theories about famous people who he was sure had changed their gender.

After calming him down and getting a hold of her giggles, she'd told him that she was perfectly happy being a girl and never wanted to change that. She liked being Neal because she felt safer when she was him; she had more confidence and people treated her with more respect.

She'd thought about it afterwards, but found that she'd been telling the truth; while she might pretend to be male ninety per cent of the time, she was a female in her mind and she didn't ever want to change that. Those times when she got to be Lizzy were cherished by her, even if it was by her own choice that they were so few and far between.

As Neal, she developed her own sense of style that included designer suits and black fedoras. For cons, she wore whatever was needed in order to succeed and get paid at the end. When she got to be herself, she preferred to wear expensive dresses and heels, both of which made her feel good. With all these different styles and identities, it was a miracle that she hadn't developed a personality disorder.

She got incredibly good at pinning her hair up so that it looked like a boy's haircut, but in reality when she let it down it fell to her shoulders. It meant that if she ever got into a tight scrape, she could alter her whole look a few seconds and no one would ever connect Neal Caffrey to her.

One thing that she did notice was that she could charm nearly every woman that she met when she was Neal and even a few men. She was confused about how to feel about that to start with but eventually accepted it. The woman she'd flirted with had told her that she was beautiful and seemed so sensitive; all things that appealed to them. She supposed it could also be that she could relate to them and knew the right things to say when complimenting them.

For obvious reasons, she never had a relationship with any of the women and never slept with any of them, never going further than kisses and a bit of touching. When dressed as Lizzy however she could pick up anyone she wanted to; the men repeatedly told her how sexy she was, but her relationships never went further than one night stands.

After all the flirting and kissing that she did with women when she was Neal, she decided to try and pick up a woman in her true female form and was surprised that it just as easy as it was when she was Neal. It seemed that she could pick up either gender no matter what form she was in, proven when she had a make out session with a man in her Neal disguise.

She decided after all her experiments that she didn't care about gender and could be happy with either a man or a woman, but found that she had a slight preference to men. Mozzie hadn't said anything about her new sexuality other than to tell her to try and keep her conquests out of their flat because he didn't need to see or hear his baby sister like that.

When she was twenty three she met Kate Moreau for the first time and developed a small crush on her. Mozzie warned her about trying to start anything with the woman, mentioning the fact that Kate had a boyfriend. Lizzy was a lot of things, but she wouldn't ever try to go further than flirting with someone who was in a relationship and had no respect for cheaters.

They parted ways as friends, but Kate only knew her as Neal and she didn't want to tell her the truth. She could tell that Kate was attracted to her in her male form, but it was just a base attraction that neither of them acted on beyond heated flirting. She had no way of knowing if she would find her true body as attractive as she found Neal's and wasn't willing to take the risk of ruining their friendship.

While celebrating her twenty fifth birthday – even though as Neal she was documented as being twenty seven – she bumped into a predatory woman in a bar who tried to take her wallet. Instead of reporting her like a law abiding citizen would have done, Lizzy bought her a drink and spent a fun night drinking and picking out marks.

They ended the night with an intense make out session that only didn't go further because she was dressed as Neal and she wasn't drunk enough to risk Alex – the woman – freaking out that she was actually kissing a woman.

A week later Alex found her again and they roped Mozzie into helping them with a con, during which they discovered that Alex was a black market fence and agreed that they might think about working with her again. She offered to buy them drinks after the con, looking at Lizzy when she spoke; Mozzie claimed that he would be perfectly happy drinking fine wine in the hotel room, but Neal accepted the invitation.

A few drinks in, Alex invited her back to her place and, against her better judgement, she agreed. They had another drink in the room before continuing what they'd stopped a week ago, only this time they began to go further than a make out session. It was only when Alex began to remove Lizzy's suit jacket that she came back to her senses.

"Stop," she panted, pulling out of the kiss and trying to move back a bit, a progress that was stopped by Alex's hands in her shirt. "W-we need to st-stop."

"Why?" She growled, leaning forward and catching her in another kiss. Lizzy let out a low moan when they pulled back to breathe, but she still tried to get herself out of the others grip. "Why should we stop?"

"I'm a woman," she finally managed to get out between kisses, freezing when she realized what she'd admitted. Alex cocked an eyebrow at her and then quickly moved; pulling the shirt that was the only thing still covering the bandages holding her breasts down until it was pooled on the floor.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting that," Alex murmured, checking out her curves and quirking her mouth up in a slight smile at what she saw.

"Sorry," Lizzy muttered, moving her arms to cover herself up as much as she could.

Alex laughed, bringing their lips back together until they were forced up for air. "Don't be."

In the end, they team up for a few cons, even deciding to go after a well-known music box together and getting closer than anyone else ever managed before she was forced to leave Alex in a hospital in France, fully expecting to never see her again. Their relationship had been fiery; full of passion and arguments, but not of much else. Most of the time they'd met up, spent the night together and then left, neither of them interested in a long romantic commitment with each other.

Feeling a bit lost, she decided not to go find Mozzie after the failed attempt at getting the music box. She felt guilty at leaving Alex alone, knowing that there was a chance she would be arrested, but she knew that in this life you had to protect yourself first; it was the first and most important lesson she'd learnt.

It was during this time that she found Kate again. This time the other woman was single and their interest in each other was more clearly expressed. Lizzy introduced Kate to the criminal world and helped her become a successful con-woman.

The only problem was that Lizzy never trusted her with her secret and because of that they couldn't get further than kisses and romantic dates. Despite this, Lizzy began to feel that she was slowly falling in love with the dark haired beauty.

Unfortunately, things began to unravel too quickly for her to stop it. Kate was pressing for them to go that next step, but a F.B.I. agent was getting closer to catching her and she lost control of everything. Agent Peter Burke caught her on Bond Forgery and before she knew it, she was being sent to jail.

**A/N: IMPORTANT: I don't want to offend anyone with this story, so I will try my hardest to explain things now. If anyone has any questions, please don't hesitate in asking me about them, I will do my best to answer them all. **

**In this story, Neal was born a girl and DOES NOT want to be a boy. She is female; she has always been and always will be female. Pretending to be a boy is her way of coping with life and since she's lived like that her whole life, she doesn't really know how to let it go.**

**She sees Neal as another part of her personality, but she knows that it's not really who she is. As a con woman, she can take on many different identities but the one she claims as her own – as if she was born with it – is Lizzy because that's the one that means the most to her. Neal Caffrey is a mask that she uses. **

**I probably didn't manage to explain that very well, but what I'm trying to say is that I don't want anyone to feel offended after reading this. Lizzy is not transgendered, she wasn't born in the wrong body, and she doesn't want to change anything about herself. She's not a transvestite, though the description might occasionally fit her. **

**If I've written anything that insults anyone, please tell me and I will do my best to fix it. **


	2. Pilot

**A/N: This episode is very similar to the original, hardly anything changes. I promise I will begin changing things as the story goes on. Enjoy!**

**Quick note: I thought that it would be pointless to write out the parts of the episode that don't change, so just because I haven't written it, doesn't mean it hasn't happened. Most of the bits that include cases won't be written because I'm keeping them the same.**

**Chapter 2: Pilot**

The only explanation as to why no one at the prison knew she was a woman must have been Mozzie. He was an expert at hacking into things and keeping secrets and she knew without a doubt that he would be looking out for her even while she was trapped behind metal bars and they hadn't seen each other in a few years; he was still her older brother.

The first rule was to never trust anyone other than yourself, because if you relied on someone else then there was a chance that they could drop you in it and leave you behind. Much like she had done with Alex, but the one exception to that rule for her had always been Mozzie; she could trust him to have her back no matter what.

The prison doctor had tested her blood pressure and her pulse, but he hadn't done anything else, even though he should have done a full body exam. He hadn't said a word as he stamped the papers in front of him; declaring that he'd done a full search and found nothing. She changed into her orange jumpsuit in privacy and found a camera jammer in one of the pockets.

It was a completely new challenge for her to keep her disguise in prison; she didn't dare leave the jammer behind no matter where she went. She was lucky that she got to shower alone – no doubt Mozzie was behind that as well – and she jammed the cameras every time. The guards either never noticed or just never said anything about it.

She was counting down her days until she was released, it would have been easy enough to escape, but she didn't really see the point since four years was one of the shorter sentences she could have got. Five months before she would be released as a free woman, she got a visit from Kate that both confused and depressed her.

A month later and she was walking out of the prison in a guard uniform with the camera jammer switched on in her pocket. Arriving at her last address, she found that Kate had been serious about leaving her. She knew that she should run, it was sure that Agent Burke would be searching for her and this was one of the places he would look into, but she felt a bit numb that Kate had left after admitting that she loved her and she didn't want to be a fugitive.

Just like she'd thought, Peter Burke walked through the door and arrested her again. With a bit of quick thinking, Lizzy began to plan how she could get out of staying in jail for another four years without becoming a fugitive again. Arranging for Agent Burke to visit her in jail, she got in touch with Mozzie who sent her the necessary information she'd need to convince the Fed.

"How do you know anything about him?" Burke asked, clearly at a loss to how she would have any inside information about the case he was working on.

"You know my life," she replied with a smile, leaving out the fact that he didn't know the main thing about her life. "You don't think I know yours? Did you get the birthday cards?"

"Nice touch," he said, watching her. She smothered a grin, wondering what he'd say if he knew that she'd honestly considered signing them with kisses, just because she knew it would annoy him even more.

They spoke a little longer about the Dutchman and then she cut to the chase, attempting to convince him to let her out of prison and into his custody. He declined immediately and left the room, leaving her behind to start waiting another four years before she'd be released.

She thanked her lucky stars that he changed his mind. As much as she didn't want to become a fugitive, she would have escaped again rather than wait another four years. The guards explained to her what would happen, fastened the tracker around her left ankle and then grudgingly signed the release papers and let her walk out.

About an hour later, Peter is driving away and leaving her in what she's sure is the shabbiest motel he could find. It was the kind of place Mozzie and she would have thought twice about staying in when they first met and were broke. With a sigh, she left the motel and went to the thrift store that Peter had mentioned, dreading what she'd find.

Peter was very clearly shocked when he saw where she had managed to move to. His expression was tempered with disbelief when Cindy walked past, a girl that she was more than happy to help 'babysit'.

"You look like a cartoon," was the first comment she got when she walked downstairs in her suit and fedora. She'd been called a cartoon by a man before, only he'd been comparing her to Betty Boop; a comparison that didn't fit her since after hiding them for so long, her breasts were no way near as big as the cheeky cartoon girl. That's not to say that she didn't have a healthy rack, because she did and she didn't mind admitting her own beauty at all.

"This is a classic Rat Pack," she answered indignantly. "This is a Devore."

She purposely pretended to be ignorant of what he meant as he practically ranted about how it was unfair that she could get whatever she wanted without working. She hid a smile at the clear mix of jealousy and annoyance in his voice and followed him into the car instead.

"You are way out of your league," Peter told her as soon as Diana had left.

"Harmless flirting," she responded. "It's like a dance."

"No, there is no dance. You're not even on her dance card. No dancing for you," he added just in case she hadn't got the point. She amused herself counting how many times he said 'dance' before choosing her words. She had an idea about what he was alluding to be she wanted to be sure first.

"Um, she digs the hat," she announced, giving him a cocky smirk.

"Um, she'd rather be wearing the hat," he replied, leaving her to figure out what he meant.

She grinned at the fact that she was right and cursed the fact that she was forced to be Neal. Diana was incredibly attractive and it sounded like she'd have been perfect for a night of fun if they'd met when she was dressed up as Lizzy. Sighing away her second of regret, she moved to go find someone she knew.

When Peter came back, she was busy watching Diana flirt with a female customs agent. The other woman wasn't too bad looking either and it was nice to watch them, knowing that neither of them would be attracted to her as she looked at that moment. She was used to being able to attract anyone she wanted in either of her identities, but instead of being upset that she'd met a woman she couldn't charm as Neal, she was instead kind of relieved because it might mean she could be friends with Diana while still being Neal.

"No dance, huh?" She spoke up when it became clear Peter wasn't going to say anything.

"Not for you," he sounded a bit amused.

"I thought the FBI had a policy," she made it sound a bit like a question. It would be nice to know that if she flirted with a few guys when acting as Neal she wouldn't be sent back to jail for it.

"That's the military," he informed him, sounding distracted. "We don't ask. We don't care."

"That's good to know," she smiled at him, clearly startling him. He didn't get the chance to say anything though since Diana came over to join them and he was forced to ask her about a customs inspector instead.

They managed to get a break through, even though the guy was found dead. It was easy enough to discover that the bond was a forgery and from there they went back to the office to work out the details. She got the chance to amaze them with her math skills, a thing that Mozzie had been eager to help her improve when she was younger because of all the ways it could help her in a con.

"Big plans for the weekend?" She asked once they were back in the car. She'd thought about leaving it, but then decided that there was a chance he might have forgotten his anniversary that her sources told her he occasionally did. Maybe a hint or two wouldn't go amiss.

"Oh, you know, got to fix the sink, catch the game," he had clearly forgotten again. She resisted the temptation to sigh and instead decided to drop another hint.

"With Elizabeth?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's into it," he smiled. "How cool is that? She likes to watch the Giants."

Lizzy resisted the temptation to snort. It was highly doubtable that Elizabeth liked watching the Giants, it was more likely that she was too kind to tell him that she found it boring, something that she herself would have had no problems doing.

"Uh-huh," she said instead. Giving up on the subtle approach, she added. "Even on your anniversary?"

The car came to a halt in the middle of the street as he complained about always being surprised by it and how he had to make up for last year when he had forgotten again. She was sure that Elizabeth must have been a brilliant woman with the patience of a saint if she managed to put up with this every year.

"What makes her feel alive?" She questioned, wrinkling her nose at the thought of what Peter got up to in bed.

"I'm drawing a blank," he sighed.

She tried not to let her incredulous expression show on her face. "How could you not know? When you were chasing me you knew everything about me!" _Except that I was a woman._

"That's the job," he protested. "It's very different."

"A relationship is meant to be work!" She exclaimed, honestly she could see why women had so many problems with men in relationships. She was beginning to think that she was lucky for never being in a relationship with a man before, if they were all like Peter.

"You don't get to lecture me on relationships!" He interrupted her thoughts. "My wife didn't change her identity and flee the country to get away from me."

"I can't believe you just said that," she winced. "Way to be sensitive."

"That was harsh," he admitted, looking kind of guilty. "I didn't mean that."

"She fled the country?" She repeated thoughtfully. "I bet she went to France. It seems like the sort of place she would go."

"I don't even know if she fled the country," Peter assured him in apology. "What am I going to do?"

"Try calling Dr Phil," she huffed, still a bit stung from his words. She paused briefly before shutting the car door, debating with herself whether to speak or not. "Try flowers," she finally suggested. "And chocolates."

Once inside the house, she stopped to grab a cane from the umbrella stand, hearing someone in the room ahead of her. She began to creep forwards and lifted the cane, only to lower it again when she heard the misquoted Ginsburg.

"Mozzie!" She grinned at him, walking forwards. He stood up as she approached and accepted the hug she gave him before she stepped back to look at him. "What are you doing sitting in the dark?"

"The light's how they find you," he told her breezily, causing her to smile. She was really glad to see him again and it was nice to know he hadn't changed.

"How did you get in?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"I used this," he held up his fist. She knew immediately what he was going to say next; Mozzie was never one for violence and he would never have even thought of hurting June or Cindy. "I knocked, introduced myself to June, she's great. You get a load of the granddaughter?"

She couldn't have stopped the stupid grin if she wanted to. "Thanks for coming. I really missed you."

His face softened. "Of course I came, I missed you too. Can I see it?"

"Can you pick it?" She asked after putting her leg up onto a chair and revealed the tracker. She was doubtful that he could, but had to ask anyway.

"No way," he sighed, giving the anklet a last glare before she covered it again. "You flew too close to the sun and they burnt your wings."

"Any news on Kate?" She sighed, already expecting a negative answer.

"She's a ghost," Mozzie gave her the answer she'd expected. "You did an outstanding job of teaching her to melt away."

"Keep looking," she said anyway. "Check France."

She then asked him for help with the case and they said their goodbyes. She went to bed satisfied that she was doing everything she could to find Kate and that Mozzie wasn't angry at her for getting arrested. When she woke up she got the idea to go and see Peter at his house into her head and decided to go with it. It was mostly because she wanted to meet Elizabeth.

"Good morning honey," Elizabeth smiled at her husband the next morning, looking up from the forgery that she was examining with Lizzy.

"Peter," Lizzy greeted him, knowing that it would be a bad idea to tease him.

"You're on my couch," Peter sounded like he was about to start getting angry.

"Came to talk to you," she smiled at him before turning to look at his wife. "You have an amazing wife, I'm kind of surprised."

"I like her," he agreed. "Get off my couch."

"Honey," El – she'd insisted that Lizzy call her by her nickname – soothed. "We were just chatting."

"How did you get here?" He questioned, seeming to ignore his wife.

"Cab," she answered with a smirk.

"You activated your tracker," he told her. She resisted the temptation to say that since she was with him, it wasn't a breach of their agreement, but held her tongue since she knew he wouldn't like to hear something like that. "You're in my house, on my couch, with my wife," he paused and watched as she began to stroke Satchmo. "And now you're petting my dog."

"Did you really put Elizabeth under surveillance before asking her out?" She asked, mostly to annoy him. "I underestimated you."

"You told him," Peter accused, looking at his wife.

They soon began to go back to discussing the case and she explained how he'd signed the forgeries, even admitting that she'd signed the ones she'd made. They visited the church to see the others and Lizzy made sure to keep a straight face while telling the vicar that Peter was being tempted by Diana.

"This is your wife's visa bill," she said when she was handed the papers.

"I got it all," he announced proudly. "EBay bids, video rentals, library books."

"So, you're stalking your own wife," she raised an eyebrow at him. When she'd advised him to find out what Elizabeth liked, she hadn't expected him to find her electronic history.

"You want to compare notes?" He glared at her.

She raised her hands. "Okay, you figured out what she likes?"

"Yeah, it's all in the summary," Peter glanced down at the papers. "Pottery making, Nancy Drew mysteries, scented candles- Oleander. Old jazz. Anything Italian except anchovies…"

"You're not going to find the answer in her EBay bids," she sighed in exasperation. After all the years he'd been married to her, she would have thought that he'd know what his wife liked.

"Then help me out," he begged. "You're the romantic. What's the deal with the bottle?"

"It's an '82 Bordeaux that I got empty," she explained. "When Kate and I first met we used to fill it with cheap wine and pretend we were living in the Cote D'Azur while eating cold pizza."

"How'd that work for you?" He sounded genuinely curious.

"It didn't," she said flatly. "It was a promise of a better life that didn't work out. Have you made Elizabeth any promises? Or do you think all she wants is Oleander candles?"

She walked back into June's house at the end of the day and slid her hat over the top of the piano to where Mozzie was waiting. She gestured for him to follow her up to her flat and then walked into the bathroom while he was talking.

"You're late," he accused as he made himself comfortable on the couch.

"I'm a working woman now," she reminded him. "Give me a break."

"So?" He questioned when she came out of the bathroom in a pair of sweat pants and t-shirt. She'd unpinned her hair and gotten rid of the bandages around her chest. It was nice to know that she could be herself around Mozzie and know that he'd have her back if anyone tried to get into the room.

"We were right about Hagan," she admitted. "I have one week to link him to the bonds or I go back to jail."

"No," he denied immediately. "I had to pull too many strings last time. If you can't link Hagan to the bonds then we activate plan B: cut your tracker and run away using your real name." They both referred to her identity of Lizzy as her real name. Neal may be the one she used more often, but they were both aware that he was just a mask for her to use.

"Did you find anything about Kate?" She changed the subject, knowing that if it became a choice between going back to jail and living her life as herself then there wasn't a choice.

"Apparently, a tree falls in the forest, it does make a sound," he pushed a photo of Kate towards her.

"Couldn't you have just answered the question?" She teased before examining the photo. "I may lose her again, Moz."

"Lose her?" He repeated. "I just found her!"

"So did he," she tapped the photo. "So did he."

They found Hagan, with help from Mozzie, and the only thing they needed to do to catch him was open the warehouse door. Peter had probably been joking when he'd given her the book of Warrant Law, but she did read it and from it she began to get ideas on how to catch Hagan.

She couldn't introduce Peter to Mozzie like she'd said she would. She might trust Peter, but she still trusted Mozzie more and she wasn't willing to give up her family. Plus, Mozzie would never have forgiven her if she gave his name to the feds. In the end, she decided that the only way to avoid jail was to do one last reckless stunt.

"You know," Peter said as he sat on the desk next to her and watched as the agents arrested Hagan and his men. "You're really bad at this escape thing."

"What can I say?" She shrugged; it was gratifying to know that if she was really trying then they'd never find her.

"You know this makes me 3 and 0?" He tried to rub it in but the smile on his face gave away the fact that he was joking and knew she'd only let him catch her this time.

"Maybe I'm not trying hard enough," she admitted, being completely truthful.

Later, she got another piece of identification that proved she was Neal Caffrey, only this time it wasn't a forged one. It was probably the only identification she had that was official. Typical that it would be one that claimed her to be both Neal and a C.I. for the FBI.

**A/N: Updates will be every Sunday. **


	3. Threads

**A/N: I should really be working on my other stories, but this one seems to be begging for attention. Enjoy! **

**Chapter 3: Threads**

"I hate this," Peter complained, trying in vain to catch the attention of a cab. "Every year it's like this. Finally squeezed into a train at Union Square. Couldn't fall down if you were shot. Come on. It's impossible to catch a cab. Ah, thank you."

Lizzy laughed and let a group of women take the cab they'd just hailed down. "Peter," she chided, smiling at the women. "Enjoy your day. It's fashion week, Peter, embrace it."

She thought wistfully of the last fashion week she'd been to when she'd been wearing a gorgeous dress and heels. The male models had been very accommodating and had promised that they could find her an agent if she had wanted on. It had been very flattering and she'd had a lot of fun trying on all of the designer clothes. In fact, she was pretty sure she still had some of the dresses in storage.

"We're supposed to be interviewing our witness right now," Peter grumbled, oblivious to his partners' thoughts.

"Relax," she commanded, holding out a bill. She remembered fondly the last time when all she had to do was flash a bit of leg.

"That's not going to do it," Peter was muttering as a cab screeched to a halt in front of them. She shot him an 'I-told-you-so' look and climbed into the cab before him.

Peter explained their new case as they were walking into the office. The witness was an extremely pretty model by the name of Tara; she didn't hit on her since she already seemed so distressed. Once they'd finished interviewing her, Lizzy outlined her idea to Peter and they went to go see Hughes.

"I'll authorize five grand for this party," Hughes finally told them.

"Fifteen would be better," she said cheekily, but continued before Peter could cut in. "But we'll make it work. And we'll get Elizabeth to help us."

"My wife?" Peter repeated, clearly surprised at this new twist in the plan.

"She's an event planner," she reminded him. "Best in the business."

"She'll work with us on the price?" Hughes asked, looking between the two of them.

"My wife?" Peter was clearly unable to get past that little bit of information, she nudged him with her elbow, grin still fixed on her face.

"Your wife," she laughed. "His wife."

Elizabeth had been thrilled to work with them and they'd immediately gone to look through the storage areas and take things for the party. Once everything was sorted except for the venue, Elizabeth left to go finish planning the final touches and Lizzy went with Peter to see what venue he'd picked out.

"It's a loft," Peter announced, showing her the photos. "Seized in a DEA bust, fifteen hundred square feet, service elevator, it's perfect."

"Is that a chalk outline?" She demanded, staring at the photo.

"I'm sure they've cleared that up by now," he reassured her hastily. "It has everything you need."

"Yeah," she agreed sarcastically. "If we want five drunk frat buddies showing up. If we get lucky we might even get a few Goths, considering the dead body angle and all."

"Aren't you supposed to be lining up super models?" He retorted, displeased with how she'd disagreed with his idea of a venue.

"Sixty-four and counting," she announced, waving her beeping phone. "My mistake, sixty-five actually, these two are twins."

"Neal Caffrey throws a party and sixty-five super models show up," Peter grumbled.

"They'd be more if I was allowed to invite the men too," she smirked at him, but her phone beeped before she could say anything else.

"That another one of your super models?" He coughed, apparently deciding to ignore her comment.

"No, a friend of mine," she opened the message and smiled. "He's got a place we can use."

"You think your friend's place is better than mine?" He asked indignantly, crossing his arms and giving her a level stare. She smiled back at him, knowing he was going to eat his words when he saw the venue she'd managed to get hold of.

The party went as well as it could without them actually catching the right guy. She got the chance to meet the lovely Agent Cruz and spent a whole night surrounded by models while Tara hung off of his arm and tried to help them find the right man. The only down side was that she didn't get to walk into the party in her best dress and flash her sexy smile like she had last time, instead she'd contented herself with admiring the other people there and flirting shamelessly with a few of the models, even though she kept most of her attention on Tara.

"Any luck getting this thing off of me?" She questioned, waving a hand towards her bare ankle as she took a seat across from Mozzie. She'd gotten changed into one of her fanciest dresses and high heels. Admittedly, the only one who would see her in them was the man she thought of as a brother, but it still made her feel better about spending fashion week as a man.

"I'm working on it," he replied, taking a drink from his wine glass while she poured her own. "You're lucky; they have you on a two mile tether. That's a lot in New York. Remember Jimmy Dimaco. The feds had his anklet set at twenty-two feet. He had to take a shower with one foot out of the tub."

She snorted. "That's not true."

"Okay," he conceded. "Maybe thirty feet. But you have it better."

"Two miles isn't going to let me find Kate," she lamented, taking another drink of her wine. "The man with the ring was with her in California and he didn't find what he was looking for in San Diego."

"How do you know what he was looking for?" He asked curiously, leaning forward a little.

She shifted uncomfortable under his look. "Because I told Kate that I kept everything; the money, the bonds, the art, all of it, in San Diego."

"When in reality it's hidden in Portland," he nodded proudly. There was no reason to think that she might have pulled the same trick on him, he'd never visited the place where everything was hidden, but he knew where it was. "That way you would know if she betrayed you."

"Kate didn't betray me!" She cried, she knew that there was a chance Kate didn't care for her as much as she'd thought, but she honestly didn't believe that she thought so little of her that she'd betray her. "He forced her to!"

"Then why didn't she warn you that day in prison?" He demanded. For some reason, Mozzie had never really liked Kate, always thinking the worst of her, but he would help Lizzy find her again if it meant that she was happy. That didn't mean that he wasn't going to try and warn her while doing it though.

"I think she might have, but I just didn't see it," she told him thoughtfully. "As the feds got closer to finding us we began to use code to pass messages on. I think she might have left me a code. I just need to see that security tape."

"You friend at the FBI has access," Mozzie pointed out. "He's seen it."

She sighed and rubbed a hand over her head before downing the rest of her wine in a gulp. "He's not just going to hand it over."

"You could ask," he suggested weakly, knowing that there was truth in her words.

Taking a deep breath, she finished off her flirting with Cruz and entered Peter's office. Mozzie was right, she might as well ask for the tape; if he said no then she'd just have to find a new way of getting hold of it. Pasting a cheery smile on her face, she pushed the door open and smiled at Peter from where he was sat at his desk.

"Where we headed for lunch?" It had become a sort of habit to have lunch together since she couldn't really leave the offices alone.

"Going to have to take a pass," he said, grabbing his jacket and standing up. "Elizabeth wants to meet me in the park."

"Picnic," she nodded, remembering the last time she'd had the chance to have a picnic with someone she'd cared about. "That's romantic."

"Yeah," Peter agreed, sounding nervous. "Should I be worried?"

She let out a light laugh. Typical, he gets an invite to a romantic picnic and the first thing he thinks is that he should be worried. "Did you do something wrong?"

"Probably," Peter groused.

"Maybe she just wants to spend time with you," she proposed dryly. She'd not been in a relationship with a man for so long that it seemed she'd forgotten just how funny they could be when the woman did something they didn't expect. Maybe if things with Kate didn't work out she'd find herself a nice man to flirt with.

"You think?" He still seemed doubtful but her mind had passed on from his relationship problems to her own.

"Sure, she probably just misses you," she shrugged distractedly. "Before you go, I need a favour."

"What sort of favour?" He didn't say no immediately, which she took as a positive sign.

"You've seen the security tape of the last time Kate visited me in prison," she paused and then continued anxiously when he nodded. "I'd like to see it. It was the last time I saw, I just want some closure."

It wasn't a lie; if there wasn't a hidden message in the tape then it really would give her some closure and help her move on. However, if Kate really had left her a code the last time they'd seen each other, than it might help towards finding her.

"Help wrap up this case and I'll see what I can do about that tape," Peter finally decided, giving her one last glance before leaving the office to go meet up with his wife. Smiling at the thought that he hadn't said no like she'd expected, she walked out to the main office to try find either Cruz or Jones to have lunch with since she wasn't in the mood to eat alone.

It was with a lot of amusement that Lizzy watched Peter come back from his picnic, adjusting the new watch on his wrist. She held her tongue against pointing out how uncomfortable he looked wearing it and instead they got talking about the case and left to try and interview people. Unfortunately, in the place of another person to talk to, they found a dead body to examine and it had a dress stuffed in its mouth.

"Hello?" She picked up her buzzing phone and held it her ear, keeping her hand on Tara's back since the model looked like she was a word away from bolting. She was a very brave girl to come out of protective custody to help them with the case again, and Lizzy would never forgive herself if anything happened to the sweet model.

They bartered about money and things for a little longer before the guy on the phone began to get more threatening. She made sure to keep her smile fixed on her face even as she told him she wanted ten million for the dress Tara was currently wearing. If you wanted to pull off a successful con, then you had to look confident in what you were doing.

"Do you know who you're talking to?" The man demanded, sounding frustrated and angry.

"This is Steve, right?" She grinned, if there was anything that was guaranteed to annoy the man more it was to fake ignorance about his name and give him one as common as 'Steve'.

"I tried to be nice," he growled down the phone. "I tried to give you a choice."

She felt guilt stab at her when it was discovered that he'd gotten his hands on Tara. They arranged a place and time for a trade and Lizzy tried her hardest to stress the point of not having a plan. The best thing they could do is be ready to roll with anything the guy threw at them; if they had a plan, they would panic when something happened they weren't ready for.

It frustrated her to hear that she wouldn't be allowed to help as the trade as going off, but there was no way she was going to sit back idly while Tara's life was in danger. It was with these thoughts in her mind that she knocked on the van door. She was pulled inside and watched as Peter began to try strike up a bargain with the man holding Tara hostage.

"Hey, is this Steve?" She could have laughed as everyone in the van turned around to stare at her. "What's up buddy? You never called."

Thankfully, everything turned out okay, and while Tara may have a few paranoid tendencies after her rough experience, she got home safely and they caught the man behind everything. She had to restrain herself from hugging Peter when he handed over the security tape and practically skipped up the stairs to her flat where Mozzie was waiting for her.

"It was nice of your FBI friend to give you this," he mentioned once they'd sat down to watch the tape. She'd gotten changed back into one of her dresses to celebrate the end of fashion week; it was one that Mozzie had given her when she walked through the door, saying that he knew she couldn't go out and get them anymore.

She hummed and leant closer to the screen, trying to watch all of Kate's body to make sure that she didn't miss any movement. Finally, she caught the code that they'd been looking for and quickly pointed it out to Mozzie. Kate had tapped out the word 'Bottle' with her finger in Morse code.

**A/N: I start back at college in a few days. Hopefully, it won't affect my update speed, but if it does I will warn you beforehand that I might have to miss a few updates while I write the chapters. **


	4. Book of Hours

**A/N: I can't wait for the end of season 1; it will mean that I can begin to change things even more. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 4: Book of Hours**

"Please stop!" Lizzy begged, glaring at her adopted brother from across the table.

Mozzie stopped tapping his fingers against the table, but he frowned at her. "It's part of my process," he told her stubbornly. She flashed back to all the times growing up when they'd had the same argument. "Look either you taught her too well or it's just a bottle."

"It's the only thing Kate left me, there has to be a message," she wished it could have been a simple break up that Kate actually meant, it would have made things so much easier and she could have gotten on with her life without worrying about the fact Kate might be in trouble.

Her phone rang and she got called down to work before they could finish examining it, but Mozzie promised to take the bottle with him and check it over properly. The case turned out to be about a stolen bible and, after talking to the vicar, Lizzy was soon back to her apartment at Junes where she could quiz Mozzie about why anyone would steal the bible.

Peter accepted the idea that it could have been a true believer who stole the bible, so they went back to the church to talk to the vicar again. She found out that, while he was meant to be a Catholic, Peter was having a lapse of faith and that he didn't believe in miracles unless they included 'more smiting and lightning'.

Lizzy had to choke back laughter when she found out that the bible had been stolen by a homeless man called Steve. It was just ironic that after the last case, this guy would actually be names Steve. It was less funny when she discovered he'd stolen it because his dog was sick; she was a big lover of animals but dogs especially.

"We're off the case?" She asked incredulously. They were sat further down the pier and she thought absently that it was a nice view if you didn't look at the crime scene a few paces away. She hadn't been swimming in a while; she'd have to see if there was a pool within her two mile radius.

"We've been asked to step down," Peter corrected, looking put out by the thought.

They discussed the different possibilities for a while before Peter dropped his subtle hints that he wanted her to try continue the investigation. It was next to no work for her to convince him to give her his FBI jacket and she wondered if he would notice if she kept it once the case was done, she figured he probably would.

With Mozzie's help, they got the information they needed from the house and learnt that they needed to talk to Marie Fiametta. Marie looked to be quite charmed by Neal when they spoke to her and Lizzy used that to her advantage. She promised to call them if she heard anything and gave one last flirtatious hint towards Neal.

She got bad news from Mozzie, who was convinced that the bottle Kate had left was just a bottle, but after a talk with Elizabeth and Peter they managed to get a small breakthrough in the case. The only problem was that she had to go on a date with Marie. The woman was attractive but not really her type.

On the bright side, Marie was very easy to flirt with, and it wasn't too hard to drop hints that she might not be playing for the FBI's team. By the end of the night Marie was convinced that Lizzy would help her fence the bible and they agreed to meet up the next day to get things moving. She'd been a bit nervous about letting Marie pat her down, just in case she discovered anything that she shouldn't, but she seemed just as oblivious as before and in a few minutes the tracker was cut and they were driving away. Just her luck that everything would go to pot once she was away from the eyes of the FBI. She transferred the money and as soon as it was sent Marie pulled out a gun on her.

"Next time you should trust your instincts," Marie smirked, pointing the gun at her chest.

"Oh, I did," she smiled back at her, holding up the clip she'd taken from her during the pat down.

"You forgot about the one in the chamber," she retorted, levelling the gun and preparing to shoot.

Lizzy laughed, holding the bible up to cover her chest. "Did I? Are you willing to test that?" Truthfully, she'd taken the clip from the gun too so she knew she had nothing to worry about. "If you take me out it will cost you a small fortune. Why did you kill Paul?"

"He wanted the book and the money," she exclaimed angrily, looking slightly unsure.

"That's what happens when you get greedy," she chided, waving the bible temptingly. There was a small click as Marie tried to fire the gun, but Lizzy didn't even flinch. She stared down at her gun as if she couldn't believe that it hadn't worked and then glared at her.

The FBI swarmed in before she could do anything else and arrested her. In a sneaky manoeuvre, she passed the bible off to Mozzie in Peters FBI jacket. It wasn't stealing if she was planning on giving it back. Call her a sucker, but she couldn't just let Steve suffer and if he believed the bible would heal Lucy then maybe his faith would be enough to help.

She stared at the bottle one last time and then placed it down on the table with a sigh. She was just about ready to give up when she noticed that the candle revealed a map of the New York City subway. Grinning madly, she woke Mozzie up and pointed it out to him. He'd been sleeping on the couch and she was beginning to wonder if she shouldn't ask June to get him his own bed considering all the time he spent with her.

She grabbed hold of his arm and began pulling him out of the room after grabbing a bag. "You're taking me swimming to celebrate."

"I don't like swimming," he complained, but he didn't resist as he followed her out. She'd looked it up and there was a pool in her two mile radius that would be closed at that time. It would mean breaking in, but it was better that way since it meant no one would see her tracker.

She was sure Peter would have something to say about her breaking and entering, but he couldn't blame her for wanting a swim. Mozzie sat on the side of the pool with one of his conspiracy books while she swam around in her nicest bikini. The only thing missing was some men to flirt with.

She was stuck on what to do about Kate; she hated the thought that the other woman was in trouble and would try her hardest to help her out, but her feeling had changed since they'd last seen each other. The love that she had thought would last forever was already dimming slightly in her absence. Kate was a wonderful woman, but she didn't even know the truth about her, and she didn't think she could trust her enough to tell her.

Maybe it was time to start thinking of Kate as a friend and begin looking for a nice man. She didn't regret any of her relationships with other woman, but she still preferred to go on dates with men and get the chance to act like herself. If it wasn't for the tracker, she'd go out drinking and find a nice man to take home, but they'd see the tracker immediately and then questions would start flying around.

"I miss being able to be myself," she said out loud, climbing out of the pool and wrapping a towel around her shoulders.

"We can still cut your tracker and run," Mozzie offered, putting his book down to look at her. "No one will be looking for Lizzy Haversham. As far as anyone is concerned you have nothing to do with each other."

"True," she nodded. "Neal is male, two years older than me, and doesn't have a past before his eighteenth birthday."

"You, on the other hand, are a thirty-three year old woman with a wonderful brother and a clean record," he followed her into the changing rooms and sat on one of the benches as she went into a cubical to get changed. "And if anyone looked up your past they would see that there's no dad on your birth certificate and your mum died when you were eight, leaving you in the custody of your older brother."

"It is tempting," she admitted, coming out of the cubical dressed as Neal. "But I would still be looking for Kate and Peter would find me."

"You could say that you're Neal's twin sister," he suggested, locking the pool back up again after them. "That might work."

"We'll keep it as a backup plan," she agreed. "For now, I can deal with being Neal every day, as long as it means I get to be myself at night."

"You're deciding to keep yourself chained to the man," Mozzie warned her.

She smiled at him weakly, her thoughts turning to Peter and how he treated her. "I don't think this man will take advantage of that fact."

"You're beginning to trust him," he sounded scared for her, eyes flickering over her face as if he was hoping she would be joking. "You know that's a bad idea."

"I trust him not to backstab me," she allowed, smothering a yawn behind her hand. "That doesn't mean I trust him with my secrets, or yours."

"Just be careful," he gave her a worried look before leaving her at the door to Junes. She watched him leave for a second before climbing the stairs to her room and changing into her pyjamas, finally collapsing on her bed. She gave one last thought to how she hoped no one came into her room while she was sleeping, since she'd left the door unlocked, before succumbing to the oblivion of sleep.

The sound of a door opening woke her from her slumber; her alarm hadn't gone off yet, so she knew that she still had a bit longer in bed before she had to get up. It was a few seconds later that she realized the door had opened which meant someone was I her room while she was without any of her disguise. She jumped up before she could think about it and fell off of the bed in a tangle of blankets.

"Neal?" June's voice sounded hesitant and confused. A hand appeared out of nowhere and helped her to stand up, the blanket fell from her shoulders and puddled around her bare ankles. There was no point trying to deny anything or try hiding her body; the t-shirt and sweat pants she was wearing clearly showed her feminine curves and her hair was completely unpinned, running in wavy strands around her shoulders.

"June," she whispered, her eyes were almost as wide as June's as they looked at each other. The tracking anklet was visible on her leg, so she didn't even have the option of pretending that she was just one of Neal's conquests or his sister or any of the other excuses that she'd been prepared to give.

"I think you need to explain a few things," her voice was slightly chocked. Lizzy held back the irrational urge to laugh; the only people who'd ever found out her secret had been Mozzie, who had already suspected it and since she was so young at the time it didn't make a difference, and Alex, with who she'd spent the night with so she hadn't really given much of a reaction other than to quirk an eyebrow and go back to what they'd been doing, it probably helped that they'd both been a bit drunk at the time.

Lizzy nodded faintly, crossing the room to shut and lock the door before taking a seat at the table. June followed her example and sat across from her, folding her hands and waiting for her to say something.

"I don't know what to say," she blurted out, flushing red at the look June gave her in response. "Neal is one of my identities; he's my mask. No one ever looks further than him, not even the ones who know of my…profession."

"So you just decided to dress up as a man one day?" June made it sound like a question rather than a statement.

She looked down at the table and traced pictures onto the surface with her fingertips. "I was ten when I first pretended to be a boy," she admitted quietly. "Little girls don't last too long alone on the streets."

June's breath caught in her throat, but when it was clear that she wasn't going to say anything else, she reached across the table and squeezed her hand in a tight grip. "You're still welcome to stay here, and I won't tell anyone about anything," she promised sincerely; she was used to making promises like that from her time being married to Byron. "Though, if I may ask, who else knows? Anyone?"

"Just Mozzie," she searched June's face but couldn't see a hint of anything negative on her face. "He found me."

"Surely others know?" The shock was clear on her face. "You were in prison for four years."

"We have all the right friends," she smiled weakly. "No one even suspected anything."

June promised again that she wouldn't tell anyone, she also mentioned that she'd help cover for her if she needed. She didn't ask for Lizzy's real name, and told her that she thought it would be best if she didn't know too much; if she only knew her as Neal, then there was no chance she could slip up and call her something else when in company of anyone who didn't know the secret.

Mozzie wasn't pleased to hear that another person knew her true identity, but agreed that he thought June might be trustworthy. He then spent the next few hours researching all he could about her life and that of her husband. What he found must have reassured him a little because he didn't protest when Lizzy began to dress as herself when in the house – though only when she was sure there would be no guests.

**A/N: This chapter was a nightmare to write. I hadn't planned on June finding out so soon, but when I'd finished writing out the episode it was less than 700 words long. It's lucky that having June in the know fits in with my ideas for the plot. **


	5. Flip of the Coin

**A/N: I'm trying to decide on whom to pair Lizzy with…if you have any ideas, feel free to message me. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 5: Flip of the Coin**

"I found that file!" Lizzy slammed Peter's office door open and then froze when she saw an angry looking Elizabeth in there with him. "This can wait."

"No, Neal. Come in," she gestured for her to close the door and step into the room, which she nervously did. "Now, Neal, just because someone's accused of doing something, that doesn't mean that person is guilty, right?"

"What's this someone been accused of?" She asked curiously.

Peter snorted. "You really think he's the best one to ask?"

"Neal," El gave her husband a glare and then turned to look at Lizzy.

"It's possible that they're not guilty," she looked between them both. "What's this about?"

"See," El turned back to Peter, completely ignoring her question now she'd heard what she wanted to. "That's what I thought."

"This says whereabouts unknown," Peter held up a piece of paper questioningly. "Is he on the run?"

"He's at his brothers," El sighed. "I didn't know the address."

"If you're keeping information," he began angrily. "That's aiding and abetting."

"I think I grabbed the wrong file," Lizzy spoke up, trying to inch her way closer to the door. "I'll go find the right one."

"No, stay," Peter commanded, halting her escape in its tracks. "My turn. If we have your prints and hair on the scene and you're on the run, are you guilty?"

"Oh, now he's the best one to ask!" El cried.

Lizzy shifted guiltily; from her own experiences she knew that that much evidence would normally mean you were guilty, but then again he could have been framed. It wouldn't have been the first time someone framed someone else for their crimes; she'd never had to do so herself, but only because she made sure to never leave that much evidence.

"I think your friend should turn himself in," she said finally. If he was innocent, then there was a chance they could help him. Admittedly, if it was her she wouldn't hand herself in, she would probably run.

Once they had the man in custody, Peter agreed to look into the case, but he wasn't hopeful that they'd find anything positive. Lizzy's tip that you can't melt gold without getting blisters was enough to keep them looking and they were soon investigating with a few more leads.

She was very amused to hear that since Dana was staying with Peter and Elizabeth, things had been awkward at home for him. He explained how if there was something wrong with her then he could just hit her on the shoulder and tell her to 'cowboy up'…on the other hand, he had no idea how to treat a crying woman. She made a mental note never to get upset around Peter; she didn't much fancy a hit on the shoulder.

"You had Elizabeth talk to her?" She asked, knowing that there was no way Dana would have told Peter that much when she was so upset.

He shifted slightly before answering. "I thought some female intuition would be helpful."

Lizzy laughed, ignoring Peter as he levelled a glare at her. "She started crying didn't she?"

"I didn't even do anything," he complained, looking completely lost as to what he could have done wrong. "I have no idea what went wrong."

She tactfully changed the subject back to the case before she started laughing again. From there they went to talk to Alicia Teagan who they suspected was the woman who'd taken Jonathan's hat and prints. It was easy enough for her to get into the offices and break into the woman's desk. Peter, of course, was set against using anything that she found, but she ignored him and asked Mozzie to look into it.

Lizzy tried not to fidget as she talked to Peter. Mozzie was on his way over and if Peter had knocked on her door just a few minutes later then she wouldn't have been wearing her Neal disguise. Contrary to what he'd said, they didn't talk at all about the case; Peter instead used the time to complain some more about how he needed to free John so he could go home again. A knock on the door alerted her to the fact that Mozzie had arrived; she jumped up and went to answer it before Peter could move.

"Photocopy of a pawn ticket," Mozzie announced as soon as the door was open, oblivious to how she was cursing him in her mind. "But I got this coin. What?"

"Mr Haversham," she knew it was pointless to pretend that he wasn't there for her, but she could still try and hope that Peter was a lightweight and didn't notice. "June isn't here at the moment."

"Oh," Mozzie blinked, no doubt trying to think of an excuse for being there. "That's too bad; I was looking forward to those drinks."

He moved as if he was going to leave, but Peter spoke up before he could. "Hang on a minuet, who are you?"

"I'm the neighbour," he said, the lie falling easily off of his tongue, even if he did look a bit more nervous than usual because he was talking to a fed. "Dante Haversham."

Safe to say, Peter didn't fall for their lie and invited Mozzie in, telling them that he didn't want to know who he was. The funny thing was that as far as they were concerned, Dante Haversham was Mozzie's real name, just like Lizzy was hers. After mocking the fact that Kate had left her an empty bottle, they began discussing the coin that Mozzie had obtained and how it could help their case.

In the end, Alicia agreed to help them, Lizzy had to meet with Aimes and convince him that she was a rich antiquities buyer. The car the feds got her to use was useless for the role they'd given her, so she got Mozzie's help in getting another one. The Mercedes was quickly replaced with a Limo that they'd have to give back when the case was finished.

She was getting really tired of having a gun pointed at her, this time it was made even worse by Cruz urging the guy to shoot her so that she could get him on murder too. She knew it was a bluff, but there was no guarantee that the guy wouldn't call it and shoot her anyway. Thankfully, they managed to arrest him without anyone getting hurt and Peter was thrilled to be able to go home again.

"I need some sort of warning bell for when Peter's going to come over," she sighed, looking over to where Mozzie was sat on her couch. She smiled at him and went over to sit next to him, leaning against his side. "If he'd come a little later he would have discovered my secret."

"How do you propose to do that?" He questioned. She could practically hear his brain whirring with ideas on how such an invention could be made.

"Maybe I should just install a peep hole on the door," she suggested, hooking her ankles together and wincing as she caught herself on the tracker. "Or ask who it is before answering."

"Both," Mozzie nodded. "I'll talk to June and pull some strings to get it done."

"Thanks, Moz," she positioned her legs so that they were hanging over the side of the couch while she rested her head against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"No falling asleep," he jostled her slightly as he moved his arm to hang over her shoulder. "You're too heavy for me to carry you to bed now."

"Spoilsport," she muttered, opening her eyes again. "Do you really think we'll find Kate?"

"I know we will," he replied confidently, and then seemed to hesitate before continuing, as if he knew that what he was going to say next was something she didn't want to hear. "But I don't know if that will be a good thing."

"I have to know that she's okay," she muttered. Once she knew that Kate was safe, she could begin to think about her options. Mozzie had made his dislike of her clear, but he'd never seen how she acted when it was just the two of them alone.

"She'll be fine," he reassured her, tightening his hold on her before loosening it again. "You taught her everything you know and she's smart enough to use it."

"Do you really think she's just using me?" She had to ask. The fact that Kate had gone looking for her hiding place had hurt her, and only the thought that it was the man with the ring that had forced her to do it made her feel better. If Kate was really using, she didn't know what she would do.

Mozzie moved so that he could look at her. "I think that you care for her more than she cares for you."

"I hate this," she groaned, covering her face with her hands as she let out a deep breath. "I wish I could just go out and get drunk. Problems seem so much easier to deal with when you're drunk."

He chuckled, causing a smile to grace her own face in response. "I don't think Suit would be best pleased if you turned up for work tomorrow with a hangover."

"Fine," she mock glared at him, untangling herself and standing up. "I'm going to bed."

"Even a soul submerged in sleep," Mozzie quoted. "Is hard at work and helps make something of the world."

"Heraclitus," she named the man who had said the quote. It was like a game for them, quoting people and seeing if the other knew who had said it.

"Man is a genius when he is sleeping," she recited back at him, moving over to the bathroom and getting ready for bed.

"Akira Kurosawa," he called out after a seconds pause.

She grinned at him and covered her mouth as she yawned. "I think it would be a good idea to follow their advice and try get some sleep," she poured herself a glass of water and placed it by her bed. "Are you staying here tonight?"

"No," he shook his head and stood up. She followed him to the door so that she could lock it once he'd gone. "Goodnight." She replied in kind and then shut and locked the door behind him, not wanting a repeat performance of when June walked in on her.

June knocked on her door for breakfast the next morning, mentioning that she was alone so Lizzy didn't have to dress up if she didn't want to. She remained in her pyjamas to answer the door and eat breakfast. Unfortunately, after having a quick shower, she had to get changed into her suits and pin her hair up.

"It's such a shame that a beautiful girl like you should have to hide," June told her sadly.

Lizzy smiled at her, adding the final touch to her hair so that it wouldn't fall down if she had to do any running. "Are you trying to say I don't make a nice man, June?"

"You make a very handsome man," June contradicted her. "But you could make it as a model when you look like yourself, and I've only ever seen you in sweatpants and t-shirts!"

"You're not the first to say that," she blushed lightly at the compliment. "There were a few male models that offered to find me an agent the last time I went to a fashion week as myself."

"I can imagine," she said dryly. There was a moments silence before June seemed to think of something that she wanted to say, but didn't know how to say it. "You mentioned male models, but aren't you and Kate…?"

"Ah," she smiled self-consciously. It wasn't often that she came across anyone who had objections to her sexuality, and she didn't think that June would have any problems with it, but she always felt a bit odd talking about it since it felt so natural to her. "I'm bisexual. Though I do admittedly prefer men."

"I thought that might be the case," June nodded. "Though I thought that when I still believed you were a man."

"You're one of the few," she snorted. "When I'm 'Neal', everyone assumes I'm a womanizer, when in truth it's not often that I actually go home with anyone."

"Not to worry dear," June stood up and began clearing away some of the plates. "You'll find someone you can be yourself with soon."

"What if I've already found that with Kate?" She questioned, not missing the thoughtful expression that crossed June's face before she replied.

"Do you think you've found that with Kate?" She asked back.

Lizzy thought about the time she'd spent with Kate, how she'd felt like she'd do anything for her and wouldn't hesitate to admit that she loved her. The only problem was that she couldn't be herself with Kate; she'd never told her the truth and it had always held them back from having a complete relationship. If she truly loved Kate, why was she still so reluctant to tell her the truth? Shouldn't she want to tell her everything? She'd already proved she didn't fully trust her because she'd told her a lie about her hiding place; that way Lizzy would know if she betrayed her.

"I don't know anymore."

**A/N: It feels like the episodes aren't long enough anymore. Hopefully, I'll soon be able to change more instead of just copying bits of the episode and changing a few words. **


	6. The Portrait

**A/N: Okay, I've decided that I'm going to pair Lizzy with a guy, so sorry to all you Sara/Neal fans. At the moment, I'm considering a Lizzy/Jones pairing, because I like Jones and he's a much underused character. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 6: The Portrait**

"Kate leaves you a bottle with a map on it and this is where it leads us?" Mozzie complained, glaring at his adopted sister. "Grand Central Station?"

"We're looking for something I'd recognize, Moz," she reminded him, spinning around. "Something significant or familiar."

"Something significant? Grand Central Station!" He repeated, as if she didn't already know where they were. "She could've sent us anywhere, so she sends us to a place that leads everywhere?"

"Moz," she warned, something catching her attention from the corner of her eye.

"You know," Mozzie continued obliviously. "There's a great oyster bar in there."

She let out a chuckle and called him over. "I think there's something in here."

"X marks the spot?" He sighed tiredly. "Again?"

"Kate likes the classics," she grinned, opening it to find a message inside. Mozzie took the message off of her before she could read it.

"Dear Neal," he read out. "Heard you're looking for me. Wish I could explain more, but time is not on our side. But you need to stop looking. No one could deny what we have, but it's over. Please move on. Kate."

"All this for move on," Lizzy muttered, unable to just let it go. If Kate had really intended to break up with her, why bother with any of the secret messages at all? Why didn't she just say goodbye at the prison and leave it at that?

"Oddly bipolar," Mozzie commented, steering her towards the building. "I'd rather have some oysters."

Peter came to get her the next day for a new case, something about a Haustenberg painting being stolen. What made it interesting for her was that it was a residential robbery which meant somebody had an expensive Haustenberg just hanging over their mantel. Peter thought that the temptation might be too much for her and she was annoyed to discover that he still checked her anklet every day.

The woman who owned the painting was young and acted like she didn't know how much the painting had been worth since it hadn't even been insured. Her Uncle; a man named Gary, lawyered up as soon as Peter started asking questions. Luckily, he spoke to her straight away when she hinted that she might have been working for whoever had stolen the painting.

Gary made out a check to Gerard Dorsett, who Peter convinced her was a very bad man. He sounded kind of violent and she was a bit worried about what would happen to Julianna if he found out that she was talking to the FBI.

"We got him," Jones told them. "We've been sitting on him for two days. Been going to every high end gallery in Manhattan offering the Haustenberg."

"Who's that?" Peter nodded towards the screen.

"The big guy?" Jones clarified. "Joshua. Ex-military, the muscle who stole the painting."

"Julianna wasn't kidding about that punch," Lizzy commented, examining the damage done to the man's face with a sort of vindictive pleasure.

"Girl's got an arm," Peter complimented. They discussed the other men with him and then Peter introduced her to Taryn Vandersant; a buyer at the Lambert gallery who was going to be helping them out.

"What?" Lizzy asked once Taryn had left and she saw that Peter was giving her a look.

"Have you ever met a woman who didn't…?" He trailed off, making his question quite clear.

"Brittney Nicole in second grade," she answered cheerfully. "I had a gap in my teeth." He shook his head as if he didn't know how she did it. "Women are just drawn to me," she smiled cheekily at him. "Some men too."

She wandered off to talk to someone else while he processed her final comment. She'd been dropping hints that she might like guys too since she'd started working with him, but she wasn't sure if he'd put it together yet because he always seemed surprised by her comments. Knowing her luck, he probably thought that she was just joking around to get a reaction out of him…maybe she should try flirting with a guy in front of him.

Thoughts of flirting flew out of her head when she folded up Kate's letter and discovered that it read 'Here Friday Noon'. She hoped that she hadn't found that message because she wanted it to be there; she would be really annoyed if she found out that Kate had led her on a wild goose chase just to break up with her again.

Lizzy was careful to put her wires on in places that wouldn't expose her secret while in front of Taryn. Taryn was clearly fascinated by the fact that she'd escaped from jail for Kate, but she didn't want to talk too much; Kate's message was still fresh in her mind and she worried about what would happen if Kate did show up on Friday.

Dorsett escaped with the hundred grand and Peter had to arrest Lizzy and Taryn to keep their cover. It wasn't their most successful mission, but at least no one got hurt. An administrative inquiry was started on Peter since it was his job, but everything would be fine if/when they recovered it.

"You and Taryn were getting along pretty good yesterday," Peter mentioned in what he probably thought was a subtle way.

She snorted, seeing through his misguided attempt at matchmaking. "She's not my type."

"What?" Peter seemed genuinely shocked. "Not your- Why isn't she your type? She loves art, she looks like Lara Croft in khakis-"

"Really," she said sarcastically. "Does she bake cookies for orphans too?"

"She does," Peter nodded, a small smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

"I get it," she sighed. "Meet a nice girl. Maybe settle down…"

She trailed off and made sure that none of her emotions were showing on her face. Truthfully, she did want to settle down with someone she loved and have a family. After her questionable childhood, she wasn't sure what sort of mother she'd make, but the idea of children warmed her heart.

"Simplify my life," Peter agreed. "Probably save yours."

"You're lying about the cookies," she accused, purposely changing the subject so that she wouldn't have to linger on her thoughts any longer. Thinking of her future always made her feel nervous and it was even worse now because of what was happening with Kate.

"Prove it," he most likely saw through her attempt at getting off the subject, but he let it happen anyway.

A curator from Channing museum reported that the painting belonged to them and she found out that Julianna's grandmother had stolen the painting. Most likely, the reason behind it was because she had been the girl in the painting. However, before they could talk about who the painting went to, they needed to find it.

They began by looking for Dorsett's girlfriend. There were seven possibilities, but she chose the one that was staying at a hotel where she would have stayed. Unfortunately, she hadn't accounted for the fact that she'd be stuck in a car with Peter for the night while he ate devilled ham sandwiches and listened to the game on the radio.

At last, she managed to convince him to allow her to enter the bar for a drink. Once there, she sipped at her wine while listening in to two French women, one of which she was sure was the girlfriend. Her luck stayed with her as the girls invited both her and Peter up to their room. The tricky bit was persuading Peter to accept the offer, but a quick mention of the fact that the painting and money could be in the room made sure he would agree.

It was with the highest degree of amusement that she left him alone with the two ladies while she searched the bedroom for the painting. She stifled her giggles at the sounds coming from the main room as she looked. She found the painting behind the mirror and read the private message on the back that instructed Julianna to keep it forever.

Peter may have been right when he'd worried that this case might tempt her. She stole the painting away from Dorsett without telling Peter, but she only did it because she wanted to return it to Julianna and she knew the FBI would give it to the museum. It didn't work out like that though; Dorsett rang her up and told her that he wanted it back or Taryn could get hurt.

"You stole the painting," Mozzie rubbed a hand over his head and stepped closer to examine it a bit better.

"I was going to give it back to Julianna," she claimed, smiling her 'I'm-innocent' smile at him. Unluckily for her, he hadn't been fooled by that when she was younger and he certainly wasn't going to fall for it now.

"You're like a child," he told her. "No sense of consequence."

"Okay," she began, giving him her reasons behind taking it. "Will you look at the inscription? The Channing curator said he authenticated the painting before it was stolen. He saw that it belonged to Julianna and chose to ignore it."

"And you're Robin Hood," he deadpanned. "And did I forget to mention the part where you stole the painting!"

"I didn't think Dorsett would get away," she protested, spreading her hands hopelessly.

"This is because you don't like the guy from the Channing," Mozzie realized. "You did this for spite."

"I've done things for less," she reminded him. It was implied that he had too, since they'd pulled their fair share of cons together. "I can't let him go after Taryn."

"What are you going to do?" He questioned suspiciously.

He always got a bit protective when he knew that there was a chance someone could get hurt. Apparently, he thought she risked herself too much for others, even though he'd warned her against it loads of times. Eventually, she managed to convince him that telling Peter the truth was a good idea, but he told her to call him if the Suit tried to arrest her.

Peter didn't take the news very well, but he didn't arrest her, so she took that as a positive sign. Mozzie informed her again that she had no impulse control as he watched her forge the painting, yet he still helped her age it and examined the final product for her.

It was fortunate that everything went according to plan as they arrested Dorsett. The curator pretended that he had the real painting, knowing that if he played up then he'd have to explain why he'd gone against the wishes of the artist, and Julianna was thrilled to have her grandmother's painting back where it belonged on the wall.

"Forbidden romantic meetings are kind of a personal thing, Moz," Lizzy said quietly, accepting his reassuring presence regardless of her words.

"Yeah," Mozzie snorted in disbelief. "Like I was going to let you come alone. What if the guy with the ring planted that note?"

"He didn't," she was confident about that much at least.

"You'll be happy I came when a red laser dot suddenly appears on your forehead," he stated, shooting her a nervous look and then continued glancing around the station.

"Enough with the hero talk, Dante," she teased. Neither of them wanted to think about what would happen if the other was threatened. Having people you cared about was a disadvantage in their profession, as proved by Kate. So far, they'd been lucky in that no one had realized how much they meant to each other.

It made her feel guilty to think that if the man with the ring had taken Mozzie instead of Kate, she wouldn't have even asked questions or investigated, she would have just given him whatever he wanted if it meant getting Mozzie back. She might love Kate, but the bond she shared with Mozzie was irreplaceable. He was the only family she had.

"Okay, maybe she wrote it three days ago," he suggested, still looking around anxiously, glancing back at her every few seconds. "Or maybe three months ago."

"She'll be here," she wasn't as confident about that statement, but she hoped with all of her heart that it was true. It would be devastating to find out that she was too late.

"Well, it is Friday," Mozzie glanced at his watch. "And it was noon. So where is she?"

A phone began to ring before she could answer him. Without even thinking about it, she picked it up. A strong swell of emotion filled her at the sound of Kate's voice; she couldn't even start to decipher all of different feelings, but one of the main ones was relief. Her relief only got stronger at actually seeing her, though she was incredibly disappointed that Kate had gone before she got to her.

"She's gone again, Moz," she said numbly when she'd walked back to him. "I've lost her again."

"You know she's okay now though," he soothed her, guiding her back to June's. "We're one step closer to finding her."

"Why did she leave?" She asked quietly, following him without any complaints. She just wanted to curl up and sleep in her comfy clothes and wallow for a little while. She'd thought that once she knew Kate was okay, she'd feel better. Instead, she felt even worse because she had proof that she was being held against her will.

"I don't know," he sighed. "But she told me to tell you that she loves you and that it's the only way."

"She loves Neal," she mumbled bitterly. "He loves her back, but by the end of this I'm not sure if I'll feel the same way."

"You are Neal," he reminded her, sounding slightly scared of her dark tone.

"I know," she assured him. "But maybe Kate was just another part of my mask? I don't know how to feel about her anymore. It's like half of me is still so completely in love with her and the other part wants something else."

"Only you can decide which half to go with," he told her. "You don't have to choose now."

She nodded tiredly. Thinking so much about her confusing feelings had given her the beginnings of a headache, which made her feel even worse. She just wanted to get Kate back. It felt like her life was on pause until she got her back. Or maybe it was more that she was paused while life continued on without her. Either way, she just wanted Kate back so that she could get her life back and decide what she truly wanted.

**A/N: For those who asked, I update this story every Sunday. If for some reason I can't update, I will tell you the week before not to expect a chapter. **

**About the pairing: Please feel free to give me your opinion. If you have an idea about who to pair Lizzy with then I'm open to ideas. At the moment I'm leaning towards Lizzy/Jones. **


	7. All In

**A/N: Enjoy!**

**Chapter 7: All In**

"Please tell me this isn't going to be another mortgage fraud case," Lizzy begged, staring pleadingly at Peter.

"What's wrong with mortgage fraud cases?" Peter asked, turning to look at her.

"They're boring," she complained. "You stare at paperwork all day."

"You could stare at prison bars all day," he suggested.

"Are you still playing that card?" She demanded, scowling at him when he had the nerve to smirk at her. She hoped that he didn't actually mean it; she already thought of him as a friend and she liked to think that he thought the same.

"Makes me smile," he told her cheerily.

Walking into the office, they were greeted by a mad rush. Apparently, the bureau was missing an agent who was undercover. Hughes agreed to grant her full immunity for the things she did as Nicolas Halden if she helped them. The catch was that she had to learn how to play Pai Gow, a Chinese version of poker played with dominoes.

"I asked you to teach me the game," she said sternly, glaring at Mozzie who was staring intently at the movie playing on the TV screen. "Not force me to watch this terrible movie again."

"It's a good film!" Mozzie protested before shushing her and watching it again.

"How did they know about Nick Halden?" She wondered out loud. Glancing around the room for something to do that would distract her from the film.

"Let's be honest," Mozzie snorted. "Nick was not your best work. He's no Steve Tabernacle."

"Steve was a good man," she agreed with a smile.

"Steve is a good man," he corrected. "Besides, you should be more concerned with what the guy with the ring wants."

"I don't know," she shrugged, moving so that her legs were balanced on Mozzie's lap. He didn't react other than to shift his arms so that they weren't squashed. "I've stolen a lot of stuff in my lifetime."

"Maybe Poe's Tamerlane book?" He suggested thoughtfully, no doubt trying to go through her extensive list of stolen items.

"Nope," she shook her head negatively. "Sold that a while back. The Tamayo painting?"

"Not worth all this," he denied.

"Washington's love letters?" She grinned at him. He got a bit annoyed with her every time she mentioned the letters that she'd stolen.

"Seriously, I don't even know why you stole that in the first place," he grumbled, moving his hands so that he was holding her bare feet. "Martha...oh! Oh! This is my favourite part!"

"Okay," she tried to get his attention away from the film and back to her problem of having to play a game that she didn't know. "What are they doing right now?"

"They're drawing from the wood pile. With these tiles, they make two hands," he explained quickly, not looking away from the screen. "He just played the death tile."

"Death tile?" She repeated. She'd never paid much attention to the films when Mozzie played them while she was younger.

"Well, the movie takes a few liberties," he admitted, much to her relief.

"Then why are we watching it?" She groaned, letting her head fall and hit the arm rest of the couch so she was completely laid out across the couch and Mozzie's legs. "Wasn't forcing me to watch it when I was younger bad enough?"

"It's a cult classic!" He exclaimed, giving her foot a squeeze. "Okay, what do you have to do?"

"Fold above the bank," she said immediately. "If I get a better hand than the dealer and then throw it away, Lao knows I'm a prospect."

"Okay," Mozzie leant forward so that he could move the dominoes on the table. "Well, ideally you want something like this. These are some of the best tiles you can get. You trash a hand like this and you're in. It's like folding pocket aces."

"Alright then," she sat up and moved closer to the table. "Let's practise."

"All you have to do is lose," he told her, giving her an odd look. "You want to practise losing?"

"I have to win first," she reminded him. "Then lose."

The door opened before he could say anything. They stiffened automatically before relaxing again. The door had been locked since she currently had her hair hanging down and was wearing female clothing; if someone had come in it was because they had a key. The only person who had a key was June and if she'd given it to anyone else they would have knocked first.

"I thought you might want something to eat," June said cheerily, smiling fondly at their position on the couch and how they thanked her at the same time. "What are you watching?"

"Tiles of Fire," Mozzie answered, looking up to see June's expression.

"Part one?" She asked.

"Part two's up next," he chuckled lowly at Lizzy's groan of despair.

"Don't start without me," June commanded, leaving the room to go get some drinks and food for them.

"Please tell me we're not watching all five sequels," she pleaded hopelessly. He patted her legs in consolation but didn't reply, giving her the answer through his silence. She groaned again and took up her old position, grabbing a pillow to cover her face with.

Lao took up the bait and Nick was scheduled to meet him in an upcoming game. The FBI took up residence in a restaurant around the corner from where the game would happen with the help from Mr Twan. Lizzy couldn't resist teasing Peter about his animal themed socks, even when he admitted that they were a gift from Elizabeth.

She had to step in when he made Mr Twan's daughter cry. Peter really wasn't any good with children; she was beginning to see why he and Elizabeth didn't have any. She performed a quick magic trick that cheered the little girl up and stole Peter's wallet at the same time. She gave it back to him with a grin and then went to get suited up.

Her anklet was cut off and she was given a nice fake golden watch that included a tracker and a microphone so the feds knew what was going on during the night. She got in without any problems and folded when she could have won, just like planned. Unfortunately, her luck ran out when the police invaded the club and Lao thought they were with her.

The smart thing would have been to give herself up and tell them that she was with the FBI, but if she wanted to complete this case then it meant keeping her cover. After being chased by the cops for a while, Meilin; a woman who'd bought him a drink and worked for Lao, stepped in and lead her to a hotel.

She found out, after having another gun pointed at her, that Meilin was working for Interpol and knew that she was Neal Caffrey. Apparently the FBI was interfering with an Interpol investigation and she was the one that had called the cops on them. Interpol wanted to catch Lao's boss, Meilin ordered her to let Lao walk and claimed that she could get her the man that had Kate.

When she got back to the restaurant where Peter was, she was accused of being a bad influence since Peter hadn't known that the little girl spoke English. She hoped that he bought the lie about her watch breaking sometime during the case, but she doubted it because Peter had somehow always managed to see through her lies.

Peter thought that the best way to get information would be to pretend he was completely incompetent, and sure enough he walked back over with a recorder that just needed to be translated. Since the translator wasn't going to turn up until later, they convinced Mr Twan's daughter to translate it for them and soon enough they had their information.

Sadly, they found Agent Costa's body in the warehouse that they were checking out. Peter was angry that they had to let Lao's men walk out with the body, but she sensed he was even angrier about the fact that she had withheld information from him.

"I never lied to Peter," she told Elizabeth in a whisper. It was true, she didn't tell him everything, and she sometimes avoided answering his questions, but if he asked a question and she replied then she always answered truthfully, even if it meant she had to use words that had a double meaning.

"You did leave a few things out," Elizabeth pointed out.

"You don't understand," she protested. "I need to find Kate. She's in danger."

"Look, my husband really wants to trust you," Elizabeth admitted, giving her a look that was half stern and half compassionate. "But you keep giving him reasons not to. You're on your own on this one."

"No!" She cried quickly, nearly reaching out to pull her back onto the couch. "Please stay! Don't go!" Elizabeth ignored her and left the room, leaving Lizzy alone with Peter. "So, what now?"

"Now I wouldn't take you off this case if I could," Peter replied tiredly.

"I wasn't talking about the case," she said.

"What did Interpol promise you?" He questioned, basically ignoring her statement. "Did Meilin promise you Kate?"

"She said she could find her," she admitted, feeling a twinge of guilt.

"In exchange for what?" Peter demanded, knowing that Interpol wouldn't give her something for free.

"They want Lao to walk," she explained. "They're after his boss."

"Lao doesn't have a boss," he sighed and rubbed a hand over his eyes. "You know what this is really about? It's about jurisdiction. If they arrest him on Asian soil, they get additional funding from China's government."

"Additional funding?" She repeated numbly.

"Yeah, half a million dollars. That's the price of a dead FBI agent. You really think you can believe everything she tells you?" He asked ironically. "We either take down Lao now, or our partnership comes to an end."

"We're partners?" Her heart swelled with a faint joy at his words before she pushed it down. It shouldn't matter to her if Peter thought of them as partners; she needed to find Kate.

"You tell me," he gave her a last look before leaving her to think it over. She wished she could tell him. She felt like she was being pulled in too many directions; she needed to make sure Kate was okay, but she also needed to decide what to do with her life. Mozzie was urging her to ditch the name Neal and run, but there was a part of her that didn't want to leave.

Meilin was talking with June when Lizzy got home. Her words about dropping by again soon sounded more like a threat to her ears and Meilin didn't even try to deny the fact that she'd lied to her and was planning on letting Lao go for money. She brought up Kate again in an attempt to convince Lizzy to go through with their arrangement before leaving.

She couldn't let Lao walk without going back to jail herself and having it on her conscience, but she couldn't just let any information that Interpol could give her get away either. In the end, she got the flash drive off of Meilin that she claimed had the information she needed, and managed to make sure Lao wore her watch; which meant that the FBI had hours of transcript that would lock him up for good.

The flash drive was empty, but Meilin rung her up to tell her that the man who had Kate was FBI. She then hung up without answering how she knew that. Lizzy stared at her phone in silence for a few moments before swearing. How could she trust Peter when someone he was working with could have Kate? Mozzie would be upset on her behalf, but she knew that he wouldn't be surprised about the fact that the feds weren't all obeying the law.

Once she was changed into her most comfortable outfit, she poured herself a glass of wine and downed it in one. Everything seemed like it was spiralling out of control and there was nothing she could do. With a deep sigh, she reached for her phone and began dialling the one person she trusted to help her make sense of things: Mozzie.

**A/N: I'm not sure when the next update will be. If everything goes to plan then Chapter 8 should be uploaded next Sunday as usual, but if not you may have to wait an extra week or so. **


	8. Free Fall

**A/N: I've decided that I'm going to pair Lizzy with Jones. Nothing will be happening until Season 2 at the earliest, but probably nearer to the beginning of Season 3. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 8: Free Fall**

"So the guy who had Kate is in the FBI," Mozzie recapped, walking next to her on the sidewalk. "This confirms everything."

"Take it easy, Moz," she sighed hopelessly. She knew that once she'd told him he would begin rallying against 'the man' again.

"You lay down with dogs, you get up with fleas," he quoted at her stubbornly.

She snorted. "I could live without the fortune cookie commentary."

"Now you understand my fear of the man," he continued before she could say anything. "You're back with us, my friend. The fearful masses, welcome back. Do you have any suspects?"

"How many field offices does the FBI have?" She asked, suspected that he would know.

"Fifty-six," he answered immediately. There were times when Mozzie's paranoia came in handy. "Not including resident agencies."

"Then I have a lot of suspects," she told him easily.

"How do we draw them out?" He questioned thoughtfully, no doubt already planning something that would narrow down their suspect list.

"We don't," she smiled at his surprised look. "It's his move."

Her phone rang before he could reply. It was Peter telling her to meet him at an expensive clothing boutique. When they got there, the manager met them and explained that he thought the most exotic pink diamond in the world that they were displaying might have been stolen and a forgery left in its place.

His reasoning behind his suspicion was the security footage of the vault where the diamond was kept before the showing. Lizzy appraised the necklace and told them all that it was a fake, which caused Peter to confiscate the forged necklace and the security footage. She suspected that the FBI wouldn't find any prints on the scene, the man who stole the real diamond must have been a professional.

Once they were back in the office, Peter was called into Hughes office where he was talking with someone from the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR for short), the FBI's version of internal affairs. None of them looked happy about what they were talking about, but Peter acted normally when he came over to see how her list of possible suspects was going.

With his help, she narrowed it down to Adrian Tulane who was the only one she thought could pull off such a good forgery. Tulane handed them a file containing his flight details as soon as they went to talk to him. She was a bit excited to meet him because he was practically a celebrity in the con world. She was a big fan of his 'alleged' work.

She was frustrated and angry that Peter thought she was the thief, especially since she was the only one on their list of possibilities. It wouldn't have been so bad if she'd actually done it, but she had a tracker on for goodness sake, she hadn't stolen anything – that hadn't gotten back to its owner – since leaving prison.

Mozzie managed to distract her by going through what he'd learnt by looking into everyone. He had asked if she'd stolen the diamond, offering to be her fence is she needed one, but she'd assured him that she hadn't stolen it. She wasn't annoyed that he'd asked, but if she had she would have told him and asked for his help in planning everything. She wouldn't have been caught on camera.

"We can try to grab him when he goes to fence it," Lizzy told Peter while they were sat in his office. It was an idea that she'd gotten when Mozzie had offered to be her fence. He would be disgusted to hear that he was helping her give ideas to the feds, but if it meant it got her off the suspect list then she hoped he'd forgive her.

"It's a unique piece," Peter denied, shaking his head. "It's too hot for the market right now."

"Alberni is an interesting angle because the market there is less rigid," she offered, trying to think of the different places where someone could fence an expensive necklace like that.

Jones entered the room while she was speaking and whispered something in Peter's ear, she stopped talking to let Peter hear whatever it was that was so important. Fowler, the man from OPR, barged in before she could continue.

"Neal Caffrey, you're under arrest," he announced, striding forward to handcuff her.

"What?" She cried, looking between the approaching Fowler and Peter who was looking accusingly at her.

"We found the signature NC micro-printed on the fake diamond," Fowler told them all. "It matches the signature we found on the counterfeit bonds he made. See? It's good work, Agent Burke. Let's go."

"Stop," Peter interrupted, blocking Fowlers path. "He's my responsibility."

"Peter," she stared at him, feeling betrayal and hurt well up inside of her.

"You have the right to remain silent," Peter said, referring to her rights.

"I didn't do this," she denied, shaking her head in frustration when he didn't believe her, telling her to stay quiet. She panicked when it became apparent that she was going back to jail; there was no way Mozzie could help her if he didn't know she was arrested. Thankfully, the medic and guards must have remembered her from last time, since they didn't do a full check again and just passed her through to her cell.

Peter came to visit her while in jail. She insisted to him that she'd been set up; she could see in his eyes that he wanted to believe her, but the evidence pointed towards her having done it. Either way, he was shooed out of the room by Mozzie who was her lawyer. If her case actually went to court, then she'd be doomed because Mozzie was a terrible lawyer, but it was a great cover for what they had planned.

Peter actually looked half amused when he saw her swan dive out of the window and escape prison for the second time. The second part of her plan involved trusting Peter, something she wasn't completely comfortable doing, but she didn't really have a choice.

Lizzy was beyond relieved when Peter allowed her a minuet to explain herself. Sure it wasn't a lot of time, but just the fact that he was willing to listen to her was good enough for her. He was understandably upset when she'd told him that his house was bugged. However, he seemed resigned when she admitted to be looking for Kate.

"Nice disguise, Jacko," Peter teased once she'd turned up at the jewellery shop as instructed.

She glared at him. If she'd wanted to, she could have just walked around as herself and no one would have known it was her, not even Peter. "I never really liked this picture," she held up the newspaper, deciding not to mention that he'd never seen through her so-called 'bad' disguise.

Once inside the vault that she'd apparently robbed, it was easy to find out how the real thief had done everything. From there it was unbelievably simple to find out who'd committed the crime and, soon enough, Lizzy was back in the conference room drinking champagne out of a paper cup to celebrate the fact that she was off the hook for this particular theft.

"Mozzie," she picked up the phone with a sigh after breaking away from the celebration to answer the phone in Peter's office. "I told you; just sign the papers for me."

"Neal," the one word froze Lizzy in her spot. "It's me."

There was no need to ask for clarification. She would recognize Kate's voice anyway. Frustratingly, Kate didn't offer any details that she hadn't already known, just telling her that she couldn't trust anyone. Lizzy wondered, pessimistically, if that included Kate.

When she told Mozzie, he gave her a room number where there was a possibility that Kate could be. He was convinced – as usual – that it was a conspiracy involving Fowler. For once, Lizzy was inclined to agree with him. Unfortunately, she didn't get any information from the hotel room and Kate hadn't been there, just Fowler.

**A/N: I hate this chapter; it's far too short and changes practically nothing. However, it was either update this or nothing. There might not be an update next week because I'm extremely busy at the moment. I'll try my best to write and update as usual, but I apologize in advance if I can't. **


	9. Hard Sell

**A/N: Sorry for not updating, I was on holiday and didn't have access to my files. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 9: Hard Sell**

"If only there was some way to compare this to your life," Mozzie remarked, gesturing to the chess board between himself and Lizzy.

"I get it, Moz," Lizzy glared at him. "I'm a pawn. Your analogy lacks creative thinking."

"You're upset because it's accurate," he countered. "See, Kate has reign over the whole board, while your movements are more…restricted."

"Fowler has to be lying about Peter," she growled, only half paying attention to him. "There's no way Peter has Kate."

"Everyone has a price," Mozzie reminded her. It was something he'd done his best to drill into her head when she was growing up. He'd been forever telling her that she was too trusting while she argued that he was paranoid. "Peter's in the perfect position to control everything. I hate to give him credit, but the suit's smart."

"I know him," she practically whined, unwilling to believe that someone she was beginning to see as a friend could do this to her. "There's no way he could do it."

"Prove it," Mozzie dared her. "Find the ring. Find the king." He grinned at the little rhyme he'd made; amused by the fact he'd managed to include his metaphor.

"See if he has it," Lizzy nodded in agreement, going through different ideas in her mind of what she could do.

"I'm the bishop," he informed her. "In case you were wondering."

"I didn't doubt it," she teased him. He always favoured the bishop piece when playing, while she tended to focus on the underestimated pawns. To be honest, she didn't mind being compared to a pawn since they could become queens if they tried hard enough.

When she got to the FBI office, Lizzy was given the details to a boiler room scam that they wanted her to go undercover for. It meant that she'd be off her anklet for a little while, a fact that made the mission more appealing.

To get in, she had to interview with a guy named Brad. The interview went fine, but Brad turned out to be a total pig towards women, making Lizzy glad that she wasn't herself around him. She made an effeminate looking man, but she'd been assured that she was a stunning woman if she tried to be.

Apparently, she'd done so well her first day that the man behind the scenes wanted to see her. This had the downside of being forced to spend more time with Brad, but it also helped her get closer to closing the case.

Using her quick thinking, she arranged to meet Peter at his house, giving her the chance to find out if the ring belonged to him. It felt like a stone had fallen into her stomach when she found a photo of Peter wearing the ring. She really hadn't wanted it to be him.

"What's wrong with you?" Mozzie questioned, looking over the chess board at her.

"I found the ring," she admitted. "It's Peter." Anger and betrayal bubbled up inside her, making her lash out and knock the chess board to the floor. There was something vaguely satisfying about seeing the chess pieces roll around on the floor, but it didn't make her feel any better.

"I'm so sorry," Mozzie reached over and took hold of her hand, tugging her forward until she was wrapped in his arms.

She sunk down into the comfort he was offering. "I don't understand why," she murmured, burying her head into his shoulder.

"He's a suit," he said as if it explained everything. "You going to play it out?"

"What choice do I have?" She asked, lifting her head to look at him. It was meant to be a rhetorical question, but she really did hope that Mozzie had a solution. She didn't think that she could continue working with Peter when she knew he'd taken Kate.

"They've got you off the anklet for this one," he told her. "We could run."

"We'd need some cash," she considered, trying to think of all of the possibilities. She didn't know if she'd be able to leave Kate, but she knew that she couldn't face Peter every day anymore.

"We can get cash," Mozzie smiled. It was an expression that was filled with the thrill that comes with pulling off a con. There was no doubt how he was going to get the cash they needed. A part of Lizzy hated that she would be taking Mozzie away from everything, but there was no way she could leave him and she knew that he'd always follow her if she tried. "So, what are you going to do?"

"Get the money," she decided.

She managed to convince Peter to go undercover with her. They were invited to a house party, where Peter was led around the house and Lizzy watched the guys shoot. When Peter came back outside to join them, anger had her showing that she could shoot.

Mozzie had made sure that she'd always be able to protect herself. She'd gone through self-defence classes, as well as shooting lessons and basic knife training. Peter looked a little surprised at how well she could shoot, but she just glared at him angrily.

After inventing a new play on the spot that involved Peter telling everyone that she was a corporate spy, Lizzy was taken back to Peter's house to talk about the accusation she'd made about him having Kate.

Elizabeth helped convince her that Peter didn't have Kate. Apparently, the ring was something people got when they'd spent ten years in the FBI. It was a relief to know that her trust in Peter hadn't been misguided.

She was extremely glad that they'd worked their problems out before going back undercover, since her life was literally in Peter's hands. She passed out for a few moments from lack of oxygen; she'd given Peter the only breathing device they had, telling him that she trusted him.

Luckily, she hadn't blacked out long enough for it to do any damage and didn't have to be taken into hospital. However, her show of trust had Peter admitting to things she wasn't sure he would have told her before.

"Well, it's ready," Mozzie announced, walking through her apartment door. "Are we running?" He stared at her for a few seconds before sighing and sinking down into the chair across from her. "You folded. You're back in chains."

"I had to see this one through," she told him with a smile before filling him in on all the details that she herself hadn't known.

"Fowler wants the music box," he repeated. "But you don't have the music box."

"I know," she groaned. They'd been amused when the rumours had started circulating about how she'd stolen the music box. Neither of them had bothered to correct the rumour, knowing that image was important in their business.

"Now what?" Mozzie demanded, a gleam in his eye that said he already knew what she was going to say.

"Now we find the music box," she grinned mischievously, naturally including his in the plan without needing to ask. "And then we steal it."

"Welcome back," Mozzie grinned back at her happily, lifting the glass of wine that she poured for him in a silent toast to her return to the wrong side of the law.

"I didn't realize that I'd ever left," she laughed, taking a sip rom her own glass.


End file.
